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Tue, 03 Mar 2015 20:34:58 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Four things we could not have done this year without our donors!http://dawesarb.org/blog/four-things-done-year-without-donors/
http://dawesarb.org/blog/four-things-done-year-without-donors/#commentsThu, 04 Dec 2014 18:47:13 +0000http://dawesarb.org/?p=3352| By Erin Neeb, Director of Development | This is a wonderful time to reflect on the year coming to an end and revel in accomplishments. This year, The Dawes Arboretum was able to make several leaps forward in our work that were significantly funded by donors. While our founders, Beman and Bertie Dawes, had […]

This is a wonderful time to reflect on the year coming to an end and revel in accomplishments. This year, The Dawes Arboretum was able to make several leaps forward in our work that were significantly funded by donors. While our founders, Beman and Bertie Dawes, had the generous foresight to endow The Arboretum with a fund that still pays for much of our daily operations, many of our capital upgrades and specific projects simply would not take place without donor funding.

Following is a list of items that may not have happened this year, or ever, without our thoughtful donors.

1) Completed the first phase of Japanese Garden updates that involved moving boulders up to 3,000 pounds and building a new meditation house. Nearing the garden’s 50 year anniversary, original designer, Makoto Nakamura, consulted on the renovation.

2) Opened a new accessible trail for walking, jogging, bicycling, strollers, etc. Most of our trails at The Arboretum are grass, gravel or dirt. This is the only paved trail at The Arboretum apart from the Auto Tour and it was requested by many visitors for accessibility and safety.

3) Facilitated field trips centered on wetlands, soil, and nature education with students from Heritage Middle School with a grant from the Ohio Environmental Education Fund of the Ohio EPA. This gift sparked a new partnership to elevate science education opportunities.

4) Transformed the History Center into exhibit space featuring displays on Arboretum history and mission-related themes. This space is open to the public free of charge. The displays are being changed this winter, so check back in the spring to learn more!

As you go about your holiday season, consider these projects that could not have happened without you and help us with a giving celebration that has spread among the non-profit community called #GivingTuesday. Following a day for giving thanks and days for getting deals, on Tuesday, December 2, we now have #GivingTuesday—a day for giving back! In the midst of shopping and wrapping, consider making an on-line contribution to The Dawes Arboretum in support of trees, history and nature and help us spread the joy of #GivingTuesday throughout the season!

Click here to donate today! Thank you for your support and Happy Holidays from The Dawes Arboretum!

]]>http://dawesarb.org/blog/four-things-done-year-without-donors/feed/0Megan’s Secrets from the Gardenhttp://dawesarb.org/blog/megan/
http://dawesarb.org/blog/megan/#commentsTue, 10 Jun 2014 17:26:11 +0000http://dawesarb.org/?p=2994by Megan Fleischer, Display Gardens Manager | We are half-way through the year and many thoughts are running through my mind as we approach summer. With every passing rain storm I wonder if it’s the last one we’ll see for a while. Will I spend most of the summer hand watering plants? Will we have […]

We are half-way through the year and many thoughts are running through my mind as we approach summer. With every passing rain storm I wonder if it’s the last one we’ll see for a while. Will I spend most of the summer hand watering plants? Will we have an extremely hot summer like 2012? (Please, no!) I have to admit, as these thoughts run through my head, I am not only thinking of how these harsh conditions can put stress on our plants, but also how physically and mentally draining a harsh summer can have on a gardener.

With uncertainties about what lies ahead, I am also ready to put to rest one big question that I have been asked this spring: What plants have you lost due to the unseasonably cold winter we had in Ohio? Up until this month I have remained optimistic that the perennials showing little to no life this year might still hit a growth spurt and pull out of dormancy. But, it’s official–they are gone. What took the biggest hit? Lavender. 100% of the lavender I had planted in the gardens at the Daweswood House and Visitors Center did not come back. In years passed, lavender has held onto the majority of it’s leaves, so it shouldn’t have taken me until now to declare them dead, but alas, they were plucked from the ground last week, making it official. With so many great new cultivars in the trade, I am looking forward to replacing the vacant spaces with beauties like Lavender ‘Silver Edge.’ Butterfly bushes were also severely depleted.

Roses are still struggling to pull out of dormancy. Most surprisingly, Knock Out® roses. We were fortunate enough not to lose the plants anchoring one of our gardens, but they are not showing the vigor they have displayed in years prior. I am questioning if I will see flowers on a few of them before the end of summer. Stay tuned…

Although still alive, Yucca has taken a big hit aesthetically. Due to the piles of snow mounded up around our parking lots, the stand of yucca we have bordering one of our lots resemble little trees you’d see in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (a stick and then some floppy leaves for a canopy) rather than rigid, shrubby plants.

I am mourning one plant’s return: Canadian thistle. It’s back and worse than ever.

Hopefully, the gardens will continue to flourish despite these challenges! Make sure to visit frequently this summer to see some new additions to the gardens, as well as long-time favorites.

To learn more about the successes and pitfalls we’ve experienced with the plants in our gardens, attend the First Saturday Wagon Tour on August 2nd at 10am.

]]>http://dawesarb.org/blog/megan/feed/0Plant Sale Sneak Peek!http://dawesarb.org/blog/plantsale2014/
http://dawesarb.org/blog/plantsale2014/#commentsThu, 08 May 2014 18:48:43 +0000http://dawesarb.org/?p=2815by Mike Ecker, Director of Horticulture | Plant Sale & Garden Fair will soon be here and Arboretum staff are already prepping and planning for the sale happening May 17. Each year we continue to update and improve our offerings and it always seems to end successfully… more, I suspect, from dedicated buyers and […]

Plant Sale & Garden Fair will soon be here and Arboretum staff are already prepping and planning for the sale happening May 17. Each year we continue to update and improve our offerings and it always seems to end successfully… more, I suspect, from dedicated buyers and diversity offered than by any magic on our part. And lots of diversity this year! Too much to list them all in a blog, but a few highlights for which I have a special affinity:

First, evergreens – upright white fir, Abies concolor ‘Pyramidalis’ high on my list with one in my landscape. How it has avoided becoming someone’s Christmas tree, I don’t know. Blue, upright, tightly congested foliage and fast-growing. A real vertical accent that looks great by itself or with other conifers. Other evergreens I’ve found a site for in my garden: Gold Spangle sawara false cypress, a bright yellow, broadly conical form acting as exclamation in the border and a visual screen for my three-season porch; Beanpole Anglo-Japanese yew performing just as the name describes – another vertical accent, only dark green. Even though not evergreen, at this time I may as well mention hybrid Rhododendron periclymenoides x R. prinophyllumalso in my garden. Pink flowers with intense fragrance of wild phlox that I can’t walk by without stopping to enjoy.

Another special plant offered this year never failing to wow those with a botanical affinity: dwarf European hornbeam, Carpinus betulus ‘Columnaris Nana’ is a very compact, dense, slow-growing tree that works well with conifers because of its conical shape. Looks sheared without ever having been touched by pruners!

Lots of evergreens – bun-like dwarf mounds like Pine Glenn Norway spruce, Eagle Rock white spruce, Guldemond’s Dwarf eastern hemlock. First two are miniature, hemlock is compact – 20 year-old plant only about 6′ tall and wide. Again, no pruning! Have you ever admired the large Pinus densiflora ‘Oculus-draconis’, dragon’s-eye Japanese red pine, near Dawes Lake? Now’s your chance to nab one at this sale and put a bright yellow and green banded pine in your front yard. Won’t the neighbors be jealous?

Or perhaps you’re attracted to maples – Japanese maples ‘Trompenburg’ with dark purple-red foliage all summer, ‘Ryusen’ one of few, true weeping maples, or hornbeam maple (Acer carpinifolium – name describes leaves resembling hornbeam Carpinus – great for stumping “plant know-it-alls” trying to guess what it is). Sure doesn’t look like a maple at first glance.

And how could I leave out dogwoods? Vigorous ‘Summer Fun’ kousa dogwood with white and green foliage in summer, pink and red in fall, or kousa ‘Wolf Eyes,’ a challenging plant to establish but well worth the effort.

]]>http://dawesarb.org/blog/plantsale2014/feed/0Celebrate Trees at The Arbor Day Festivalhttp://dawesarb.org/blog/arborday2014/
http://dawesarb.org/blog/arborday2014/#commentsWed, 09 Apr 2014 19:34:38 +0000http://dawesarb.org/?p=2756by Katelyn Brehmer, Education Intern It’s spring at The Arboretum! New blooms, fresh green grass, and fun, springtime events make this one of my favorite seasons. There is always something fun to see and do on Arboretum grounds, especially in April when one of the biggest events of the year takes place–Arbor Day! After over […]

It’s spring at The Arboretum! New blooms, fresh green grass, and fun, springtime events make this one of my favorite seasons. There is always something fun to see and do on Arboretum grounds, especially in April when one of the biggest events of the year takes place–Arbor Day! After over 12 years of visiting, some of my fondest memories are attending and volunteering at the Arbor Day Festival.

This event is a great reminder of the many reasons trees and nature are so important. Arbor Day was started on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska City, Nebraska by J. Sterling Morton, a nature enthusiast who advocated the importance of trees. Nebraska’s first Arbor Day was a success as they planted more than one million trees! The event gained so much attention that throughout the 1870’s other states passed legislation to observe Arbor Day on April 22 (Morton’s birthday). Today, Arbor Day is recognized throughout the world to raise awareness of the important role trees play in our environment. By celebrating Arbor Day and educating ourselves on the importance of trees, we can all take one small step toward a healthier environment and greener living.

Visit The Arboretum’s Arbor Day Festival this year on April 26, from 10am – 4pm. With community organizations from all over Ohio, interactive displays, giveaways, crafts and tree climbing, the Arbor Day Festival is a truly unique experience. This year, there are tons of hands-on learning opportunities for all ages as well as performances by The Turtle Lady and her amazing reptile and amphibian friends! See performances at 11:30am, 1:30pm and 3pm. Also, the first 250 families receive a free tree to plant in honor of Arbor Day.

]]>http://dawesarb.org/blog/arborday2014/feed/0Maple Syrup Seasonhttp://dawesarb.org/blog/maple-syrup-season/
http://dawesarb.org/blog/maple-syrup-season/#commentsTue, 18 Feb 2014 19:54:25 +0000http://dawesarb.org/?p=2618I am often asked, “What is your favorite season at the Arboretum?” It’s not actually during the glow of fall or the rainbow of spring blooms, but during the frost of maple syrup season — for that is when Homo sapiens begin to migrate to The Arboretum in large numbers for another year! While I […]

]]>I am often asked, “What is your favorite season at the Arboretum?” It’s not actually during the glow of fall or the rainbow of spring blooms, but during the frost of maple syrup season — for that is when Homo sapiens begin to migrate to The Arboretum in large numbers for another year! While I enjoy the calm of winter as a time to get some writing and planning accomplished, nothing beats the camaraderie of a group of people venturing out in search of a cure for cabin fever. Their diversity is fascinating. They nest in rural, suburban and urban areas, from Zanesville, Westerville, Columbus and beyond. Some of their offspring are home schooled, some preschooled, others scout trained or youth group-oriented. A bit of sunshine atop bright snow seems to draw them in great numbers. As does that universal food that is a staple of maple trees and a craving of humans — sugar!

Join us at the Main Shelter for the mass migration onto the maple syrup trail! Maple Syrup Madness runs from March 1st through the 16th.

It’s here, that time of year when the sugar maples are tapped and visitors indulge in the sugary goodness of maple syrup! Discover how sap is collected and processed to produce this scrumptious treat on the self-guided trail. End your journey at the Log Cabin where sap is boiled down and all are given a delicious sample of homemade syrup.

Maple Syrup Public ToursSaturdays, March 1, March 8, March 15
2pm
Departs from the Main Shelter House

Travel back in time on this guided tour as the fascinating history of maple syrup production is revealed. A warm fire, lots of sweet smelling steam, and samples of syrup await visitors at the journey’s end. Groups can book tours through the Education Department, call to set up a tour today!Beth Spieles, Interpretive Educator

]]>http://dawesarb.org/blog/maple-syrup-season/feed/0A Day in the Life of Maple Sugarhttp://dawesarb.org/blog/a-day-in-the-life-of-maple-sugar/
http://dawesarb.org/blog/a-day-in-the-life-of-maple-sugar/#commentsThu, 31 Jan 2013 19:33:30 +0000http://dawesarb.org/?p=1849Maple Syrup Madness is going on February 23 – March 9 Monday – Saturday, 10am – 4pm Sundays, 1 – 4pm The sugar moon shone brightly all the way to the forest floor. The previous day’s snow showers had clung to the windward side of the tallest tree trunks. The snow had melted midday but […]

The sugar moon shone brightly all the way to the forest floor. The previous day’s snow showers had clung to the windward side of the tallest tree trunks. The snow had melted midday but by midnight was refrozen. It glistened as if the forest were celebrating its 100th birthday with cool-lit wooden candles.

Winter had not yet revolved to spring. Already the great horned owls were caring for their young, winging steaming morsels back to the nest in the regular intervals that a newborn requires.

A smaller-than-microscopic sugar molecule rested in a root just a foot or two beneath the forest floor. By this time of year, its subsurface respite was no warmer than the frosty leaf bed at the surface.

Months ago in August, the sugar was produced in a fresh green leaf way up in the canopy of the forest. On that partly sunny day, a stoma pore lay open on the underside of the leaf. Carbon dioxide gas released by a passing car wafted up the pore. As water traveled the up-only xylem tube elevator from the roots, through the trunk, to the leaves, to transpiring in the air, the gas snagged the water. After their chemical dance in the green chlorophyll light, the sugar was created and a puff of oxygen exited through the pore. This sugar maple tree had already produced its helicopter seeds for the season and had already grown a thick ring. The sugar energy was not put to immediate use and remained in the leaf until the cool of autumn tightened the tubes of the treetop. Under the pressure, the sugar sank down through the phloem tubes inside the bark and rested the winter in the root bed.

As dark rolled to light on this wintry day in March, the shadows of the tree trunks remained long. The sun, still low in the sky, shined most constant on the trees’ southern bark. The glaze on the treetops melted to the tune of a drip, drip. With the ice gone, the black-brown of the trunks readily soaked up the warmth of the sunshine. The wood and every tiny space within expanded. The sugar began to rise, drawn back up the straw of phloem tubes.

The buzz of a power drill vibrated the sugar in its watery home. The sugar continued its steady rise up the trunk of the maple tree, just inside the bark layer. It rose about four feet off of the forest floor. Meeting a fork in the road, so to speak, it jutted off to the side toward the light at the end of a spile tunnel. It paused in filtered daylight at the end of a metal platform. Other sugar molecules in this tiny bath backed up behind it. When the crowd became too large, they all dove into the bag of sap below with a plink.

All day the bag expanded as more sugar joined the cold bath. Late afternoon brought the hum of a gasoline motor and the crunch of tires on snow. The bag was lifted off of the spile and dumped into a large barrel, rocked by the running motor beneath. The sugar sloshed back and forth as the vehicle coasted downhill. It paused at the porch of a one-room log cabin. A trail of chimney smoke and a billowing of white steam revealed the cabin’s occupancy.

The sugar kept tumbling as it went from one barrel to another and then to a metal bucket. The sugar joined its neighbors in a waterfall toward a steaming pan. It immediately began to vibrate in the warmth. It glided past other molecules in the hot bath, becoming more and more crowded and less and less colorless as the water bath evaporated as steam. It was released from the commotion through a spout and put into yet another bucket, to be whisked away and processed further.

Later, when its temperature had cooled considerably, the sugar syrup was transferred again from container to container and sent back to the cabin on a Saturday afternoon. It was slurped through parted lips and found itself in a dark tube once again.

by Beth Spieles, Interpretive Educator

Maple Cheesecake

Easy cheesecake is rich with the flavor of maple syrup. Since it is the main flavoring ingredient, make an effort to use real maple syrup and not imitation.

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Crust:

1-1/2 cups graham cracker or vanilla wafer crumbs

5 Tablespoons butter, melted

2 Tablespoons sugar

Filling:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Topping:

1 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup water

1 egg, beaten

1-1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation:

To make the crust, combine the graham cracker or vanilla wafer crumbs, sugar and butter. Mix well. Press into a 9-inch pie pan. Chill the crust while you make the filling.

To make the filling, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the condensed milk, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons maple syrup. Beat well. Pour into the prepared pie crust. Chill for several hours.

To make the topping, bring the 1 cup maple syrup and 1/2 cup water to a boil. Mix together the egg and cornstarch. Add a little bit of the boiling syrup to the mixture so the egg does not cook before before incorporating it all together. Stir and cook until the syrup is thickened. Spread over the cream cheese filling.